Netflix, screw you

[bigred72]

So the big announcement from Netflix, they'll be splitting their stream and DVD only plan into two separate plans http://bit.ly/NetflxBlog

It wouldn't be a bad thing if their streaming catalog had a lot more options as I still find most of the movies I watch are DVD and not streaming. They have not made any mention of upping their streaming catalog.

As with any change, people aren't going to be happy. As of this post there are almost 20,000 posts (I haven't found one positive yet) on their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/netflix/posts/10150234431168870

We'll see how it shakes out. What do you think?

[accadacca]

I got their email today. Not happy...

That is a BIG increase. It WILL be interesting. I was on the $10 plan and now my exact plan would go up to $16. I might just switch to the unlimited streaming with no DVDs for $8 and get DVDs elsewhere. Redbox movies are 99 cents per DVD. I can get 8 per month with that savings...not possible with Netflix in a month.

[cchoc]

I got their email today. Not happy...

That is a BIG increase. It WILL be interesting. I was on the $10 plan and now my exact plan would go up to $16. I might just switch to the unlimited streaming with no DVDs for $8 and get DVDs elsewhere. Redbox movies are 99 cents per DVD. I can get 8 per month with that savings...not possible with Netflix in a month.

I'm on the same plan and am thinking about doing the same. Unbundling is almost never a good thing for the consumer.

[BruteForce]

I'm been with Netflix since their founding in 1999. I'm just irritated. My cost will almost double. They've lost quite a bit of their streaming inventory due to competition. By this time next year, HULU and GOOGLE will be eating their lunch. Not sure what we're going to do yet, but Redbox probably will probably replace DVD rentals from Netflix.

[bigred72]

Netflix' Facebook page is not currently available. That's funny, sadly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IntrepidXJ]

I don't stream much so I'm thinking of either dropping the streaming or dropping Netflix altogether. Gotta decide before Sept.

[Don]

I dropped Netflix awhile back. It has been already mentioned that their streaming catalog is lacking. I mostly rent from Redbox now. They don't have the TV series DVDs I'd like to rent so I tend to use Hulu or piracy for TV shows.
Interesting to see the reaction to Netflix though; I've seen half a dozen friends bitching about it this morning on FB.

[gnwatts]

Screw Netflix. I am going back to the Library, for free.

[bigred72]

Screw Netflix. I am going back to the Library, for free.

Lol!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Udink]

I quit using Netflix in 2001 when they simultaneously raised their prices and decreased the number of DVDs you could have out at once. I'd been considering signing up again lately, but nuh-uh, not now... :fitz:

[oldno7]

Time to cancel!!!:angryfire:

Redbox is looking really good

[blueeyes]

Just barley signed up still on my free month. But now... thinking of just going back to Hulu and Red Box. Have to hurry and do my Weeds marathon and get caught up on the Botwins before the month ends.

Is there a way to get Hulu to play on the Wii?

[accadacca]

Found a list of alernative options in an article. :popcorn:

BlockBuster by Mail (link (https://www.blockbuster.com/signup/m/plan))

BlockBuster by Mail is a DVD-by-mail service with the added bonus of being able to swap out rented discs at BlockBuster retail locations (up to five per month). It touts "many new releases available 28 days before Netflix and Redbox" as well. Video game rentals are included, too.

Pricing:

- One DVD out at a time: $12 per month

- Two DVDs out at a time: $17 per month

- Three DVDs out at a time: $20 per month

Redbox (link (http://www.redbox.com/))

It's not exactly DVD-by-mail, but Redbox rental kiosks can be found at over 27,000 retail locations (http://www.redbox.com/locations) across the country. Pricing for DVDs starts at $1 per day, with rentals due back by 9pm the next day. Blu-ray movies start at $1.50 per day and video games start at $2 per day.

Hulu Plus (link (http://www.hulu.com/plus))

Hulu Plus is a streaming service that costs $8 per month and skews heavily toward TV shows, offering "over 1,000 seasons of current and classic shows." It's got a handful of movies—"hundreds of movies and documentaries"—as well as "hundreds of exclusive films from the Criterion Collection." Despite the subscription fee, however, TV shows feature "limited advertising." The service works with several devices and set-top boxes.

Amazon Prime Instant Video (link (http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-is_prime_benefit=1&rh=n%3A2858778011&page=1))

Amazon shoppers can pay $79 per year for free two-day shipping on many of the products sold by Amazon. As a perk, Prime members also have access to free movies and TV shows through Amazon Instant Video. However, the selection is currently limited to just 6,000 movies and TV shows, most of which aren't exactly big-name titles.

On-Demand Streaming Services

If you want the widest selection of stream-able content and are willing to pay a bit more, several services offer on-demand streaming rentals starting at around $2-$3 apiece for movies and $1 for TV shows.

There's the aforementioned Amazon Instant Video (http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Video/b/ref=topnav_storetab_mov_aiv?ie=UTF8&node=2858778011), BlockBuster On Demand (http://www.blockbuster.com/download), Apple's iTunes service (http://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/movies/), VUDU (http://www.vudu.com/), YouTube movie rentals (http://www.youtube.com/movies), CinemaNow (http://www.cinemanow.com/) and several other services—including any on-demand TV shows and movies made available by your cable or satellite provider.

Other Options

If those of you who are thinking of leaving Netflix or who don't use any of the services listed above, let us know if you've found any other good options!


Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/07/13/mad-about-netflix-prices-here-are-some-alternative-services/#ixzz1S0GjTP00

[bigred72]

Thanks acca, I'm definitely going to check these out.

I used to rent from redbox all the time, but got to a point where the only thing left was crummy movies. It's been a little while, so time to start looking at them again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scott Card]

Huh.... I just watch sports and the food network. This won't affect me. :haha:

[rockgremlin]

By this time next year, HULU and GOOGLE will be eating their lunch.


THIS^^^


Netflix's streaming catalog is awesome.....if you like 80's cult classics. :fitz:

[accadacca]

And now they are DOWN... through some devices including Apple TV.

Lotta pissed off peeps lol: http://facebook.com/netflix

[bigred72]

They keep knocking it out of the ballpark!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigred72]

I can't keep up with all of the posts on their website. Kind of funny.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Don]

Thanks acca, I'm definitely going to check these out.

I used to rent from redbox all the time, but got to a point where the only thing left was crummy movies. It's been a little while, so time to start looking at them again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Create an account and use the Redbox website (not thier android app though, it SUCKS). Through the website you can search for the movie you want to see and then find the nearest kiosk with that movie in stock. You then reserve the movie through the website so when you go pick it up it's waiting for you.
There are now 18 Redbox kiosks within 3 miles of my house in American Fork. I can almost always find what I'm looking for. AND they're starting to carry Xbox games now! :nod:

[oldno7]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=16522118&nid=1014

[accadacca]

In related news...Wal-Mart offers video streaming on website

By Mae Anderson, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Now playing: Movies at Walmart.com.

The world's largest retailer on Tuesday started streaming many movies the same day they come out on DVD, in a second bid for a share of popular movie rental and streaming website Netflix Inc.'s business and just two weeks after Netflix announced new price increases.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. bought video-streaming service Vudu.com 18 months ago and now offers 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from computers to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players.

Movies are available at Walmart.com to rent for $1 to $5.99 or to purchase for $4.99 and up. Wal-Mart is not offering subscriptions, making its service more similar to Apple Inc.'s iTunes, which charges $3.99 to rent newly released movies and $14.99 to buy a movie.

In addition to Netflix, another competitor streaming movies and TV shows by subscription is Hulu.com, which now offers a premium service for $7.99 a month with more back-season shows and more movies. Without a subscription, Hulu viewers can watch shows and movies free in exchange for watching advertising.

The movie offering fits with the Wal-Mart website's strategy of offering a "seamless continuous shopping service," said Steve Nave, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart.com.

Wal-Mart's announcement comes on the heels of Netflix saying it will raise rates and charge separately for streaming and rental DVDs. Its second price hike in eight months, Netflix's planned increases could amount to 60 percent for existing customers, starting Sept. 1. New subscribers have to pay the new prices immediately.

Netflix plans to charge $16 a month for services that used to cost $10 a month when bundled together, for example. It's still changing $8 a month for streaming, which it launched late last year. But instead of charging $2 more for a plan that includes one DVD at a time by mail, the company will charge $8 and up for DVD plans.

Customers have taken to social media sites Facebook and Twitter to vent their anger over Netflix's increases, but executives said they anticipated the reaction. The company's willingness to risk alienating subscribers signals it needs more revenue to cover rising costs.

As of March, Netflix had 22.8 million subscribers in the U.S. _ about 34,000 more than the number of households subscribing to Comcast Corp.'s cable-TV service.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has tested the movie-rental waters before. It previously offered a DVD-by-mail service that cost $12.97 per month for two titles and $17.36 per month for three titles. But it ceded that program to Netflix in February 2010, letting customers continue their subscriptions with Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix without a rate hike. Apple is based in Cupertino, Calif.

[oldno7]

Sometimes it's very difficult to understand corporate America:

At a time of not only financial crisis Nationwide but the advent of healthy competition in Amazon, Vudu, Hulu, and now Walmart, there is no justification to a 60% price increase on anything.
Their current market selloff reflects this, yet they state they planned on reduced business as well as losing customers.:crazy:

[tanya]

The movies on Netflix are so old! I don't know if we are keeping it, but I watch most of the free stuff on Hulu. There are a lot of good shows this summer, like Combat Hospital.

[Don]

On the other hand here's some good Netflix news. Over the weekend I read that Netflix is now offering most of Star Trek for streaming. The Original Series, the Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise are available in their entirety with Deep Space 9 coming to Netflix on October 1st.
I might actually rejoin and get the streaming only plan long enough to watch all of this...

[Don]

On the other hand here's some good Netflix news. Over the weekend I read that Netflix is now offering most of Star Trek for streaming. The Original Series, the Next Generation, Voyager, and Enterprise are available in their entirety with Deep Space 9 coming to Netflix on October 1st.
I might actually rejoin and get the streaming only plan long enough to watch all of this...
A quick bit of research to find out if the app will work on my phone (still doesn't work on all Android devices). Mine's a Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant and the app works. I signed up for the free trial (new email address and credit card so they don't realize I'm a returning customer) and tried out the app. Even on 3G I'm able to stream shows.
So that, plus the ability to watch the Star Trek library through my Xbox and I'm in. It'll probably take a couple months to get through TOS and TNG and by then I'll be ready to dive into DS9.
I have the X-files on DVD and have been watching it with my son for awhile and he loves it. We're into season 5 and now I have a plan for what to watch with him next...
I also read a news article (http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/25/7160773-report-2-million-subscribers-will-cancel-netflix) recently that predicted Netflix would lose 2 million customers over this rate hike, but for me it's working in my favor. I don't like the DVD-by-mail plan anyway so I'm getting a better price on the service I would actually use.
Plus the idea that Star Trek could come to the rescue of a geeky internet movie company appeals to me.

[bigred72]

I'm planning on canceling both stream and DVD. I looked through their online catalog again and nothing got me thinking about keeping it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bbennett]

Me too. As of August 31st, I'm done with them. The streaming catalog sucks. I can deal with watching older flicks but even the good ones like Caddy Shack or Fight Club or whatever are only available on disc. I've already been paying extra for blu ray but it's surprising how often I'll get something in the mail that's in DVD format. And if you want to watch a tv series... forget about it. You still just get one disc at a time so when you finish the 3 episodes on that disc, you've got to wait another 3 days minimum before you get the next one. Netflix can eat a floppy one as far as I'm concerned.

[accadacca]

I'll be switching to streaming only for my kids and saving a couple bucks. My kids use Netflix 90% of the time. It'll be Redbox for current releases.

[desantisc]

I think they have really shot themselves in the foot. It is so easy for us to walk the block and a half to the Kroger Redbox to pick out a quick flick for the evening. We have put Netflix on probation. If nothing improves significantly in terms of streaming quality, we will end up dropping the service. Sad because it was such a good deal before now!

[accadacca]

Down again... :angryfire:

[bigred72]

 thumbs down.


---
- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MY T PIMP]

I think I'm going to drop them as well. I hate spending a 1/2 hour scrolling through the streaming sections to find something to watch. I swear they only put one high end new release out per month and sometimes you have to search for them by name. I don't know why but ever since finishing the Spartacus series I now have a gay and lesbian section to choose from. All I can say to that is God Bless Lucy Lawless (much hotter in Sparticus than Xena). But anyways the only reason I would keep the streaming is for all of the Thomas the Tank Engine shows me and my son like to watch.

[oldno7]

I just signed up for Amazon Prime. I don't think they have the volume of movies as netflix but hey--you get 2nd day shipping on ALL Amazon orders.
Cost is $79 year. We have a 1 month free trial right now, I'll see how it goes.

We watched the first movie last night streamed on the TV, same as netflix, good quality. We accessed Amazon on the TV through a Yahoo widget:ne_nau:, I didn't even know my TV had a "widget":haha:

[rockgremlin]

The other day I discovered that Netflix streams 150+ episodes of The Family Guy.


I take back all negative comments I previously directed towards Netflix...:lol8:

[dmMatrix]

I actually don't really like tv anyways but have always been faithful to netflix. I HATE the price increase but the amount of cartoons that they offer now for streaming can't be beat. They keep my 2 year old entertained while try to get some Graphic Design work done.

As soon as I run out of "cool" cartoons I can even start over from the beginning. I just cancelled the DVD part though since I have a red box about 15 steps from my house at a 7-11 and I also like to downlo...... ummm..... yeah... get movies elsewhere :cool2:

[nelsonccc]

I pretty much plan on keeping it mainly for the anime. There's a pretty good selection and it seems to be growing faster than the other areas. Plus all the seasons of Xfiles, madmen, and startrek. Still a bargain, imo.

[accadacca]

If I wasn't such a sports nut I would ditch cable all together. Are there any options to get HD sporting events without paid cable or satellite? :ne_nau:

[nelsonccc]

If I wasn't such a sports nut I would ditch cable all together. Are there any options to get HD sporting events without paid cable or satellite? :ne_nau:

Yes but not always hd. I got rid of cable last summer and just got one of those digital rabbit ears and that gets me all local channels in hd. So now I can watch all football and sports on fox,NBC,abc, etc. Then if there is an event on let's say espn I go to any number of online sites that stream those events. But then I'm shackled to the computer or iPhone. However eztv would often have the torrent for Monday night football for download the next day. But we just took to going to the local casino for mnf. 25 cent hot dogs for the win!

[dmMatrix]

If I wasn't such a sports nut I would ditch cable all together. Are there any options to get HD sporting events without paid cable or satellite? :ne_nau:

I use my PS3 as a media server to stream all sorts of stuff... with the title update they did recently they have a "tv/video subscription" tab. One of the tabs you can download is MLB and it says that you have access to hundreds of games. Another one is NHL which I didn't check into. I don't know if they have similar ones for any other sports because I didn't look into that much. I don't know how much it costs either. That same tab on the PS3 is where you would use Hulu+ and Netflix.

[Pelon1]

and just got one of those digital rabbit ears and that gets me all local channels in hd.

Thats what I was thinking when I ditched satellite a couple years ago but all I could pickup was 7 different versions of BYU TV:cry1: But we haven't really missed satellite.

[oldno7]

all I could pickup was 7 different versions of BYU TV:cry1: But we haven't really missed satellite.

So your good with 7 BYU channels:2thumbs::haha::haha:

I have 30 channels off the antenna, many in HD.

[Deathcricket]

I pretty much plan on keeping it mainly for the anime. There's a pretty good selection and it seems to be growing faster than the other areas. Plus all the seasons of Xfiles, madmen, and startrek. Still a bargain, imo.

I tried it out based on your comment and am now a subscriber. They have a great selection of anime! Thanks man. :2thumbs:

[accadacca]

I might go to Antenna, but I would miss Utah Football games on Fox and ESPN...

[nelsonccc]

I tried it out based on your comment and am now a subscriber. They have a great selection of anime! Thanks man. :2thumbs:

Careful its a slippery slope. It's a bit depressing too, I have all these dvd sets of some of the great series (cowboy bebop, samurai champloo, evangelion, etc.) and now there on there for essentially free.

[IntrepidXJ]

I dropped streaming.....we rarely ever use it. Personally, I wanted to drop Netflix altogether, but my girlfriend wanted to continue with the DVD plan.

[bigred72]

Just dropped them. I don't have small children.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BruteForce]

We were among the original base customers.. Over 10 years with Netflix. We dropped the DVD portion and are now only streaming. YouTube is going to eat their lunch..:roll:

[oldno7]

More trouble for netflix

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17255119&nid=1014

[bbennett]

More trouble for netflix

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17255119&nid=1014

:2thumbs: Netflix can eat a floppy one.

[nelsonccc]

We still have both, but I'm beginning to consider removing the dvd plan, mostly due to Utorrent and Redbox. The dvd i currently have has been on the counter for over a week already. Too busy watching Breaking Bad and other shows gotten thru 'other means'. What does everyone think of Hulu? I'm thinking of adding them instead of the dvd plan. I still think $16 a month is affordable but I certainly want the most bang for my buck.

[dmMatrix]

We still have both, but I'm beginning to consider removing the dvd plan, mostly due to Utorrent and Redbox. The dvd i currently have has been on the counter for over a week already. Too busy watching Breaking Bad and other shows gotten thru 'other means'. What does everyone think of Hulu? I'm thinking of adding them instead of the dvd plan. I still think $16 a month is affordable but I certainly want the most bang for my buck.

Torrenting seems to be a much better choice for the newest content... of coarse you can get red box for free consistently if you get the codes. We have gotten our last 10 - 20 red box for no charge and there is a red box at a 7-11 about 30 footsteps from my house. We dropped the dvd portion of netflix just because they tend to sit on the counter top for weeks. Streaming is going to be much less effective with netflix as soon as they lose their hold with stars movies (which will be gone from netflix at the end of february 2012).

I like Hulu but several of their tv series are incomplete compaired to netflix. Although, they do have more of the newer series from what I have been able to tell so far. The largest difference in what I can see is that hulu sees to favor a lot more shows from fox and abc too.....

[accadacca]

[/URL]Netflix CEO: I messed up

(CBS News) Netflix's chief executive officer apologized to subscribers for "arrogance based upon past success" in a remarkably frank mea culpa he posted on the Internet late Sunday while announcing plans to separate the company's DVD and video streaming services.

"I messed up," Reed Hastings, the company's co-founder and CEO wrote in a blog post. (http://digg.com/story/r/netflix_ceo_i_messed_up)."I owe everyone an explanation."

A couple of months ago, Netflix split its streaming and DVD-by-mail services, raising prices by as much as 60 percent. The customer backlash was immediate and Netflix now says (http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/1406572280x0x500395/7c72e777-75c5-4f7f-9640-5b06f8cc54e4/Guidance_Update_Sept_2011_final.pdf) that it expects a total of 24 million subscribers in the third quarter, down from the 25 million it forecast in July.

Netflix's stock price has fallen more than 40 percent below where it stood before the company unveiled the higher prices. The cost to shareholders so far: more than $6 billion in paper losses.

"In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success," wrote Hastings, who went on to criticize the way the pricing change got communicated to subscribers.

"We have done very well for a long time by steadily improving our service, without doing much CEO communication. Inside Netflix I say, "Actions speak louder than words," and we should just keep improving our service," he said.

"But now I see that given the huge changes we have been recently making, I should have personally given a full justification to our members of why we are separating DVD and streaming, and charging for both," he continued. "It wouldn't have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do."

The DVD-by-mail service will now be called Qwikster. The company said that its streaming service will continue to be offered under the Netflix brand. While customers can still subscribe to both, the sites will no longer be integrated. The websites will have separate billing and ratings systems. Hastings elaborated on the changes in the accompanying YouTube video.

Source: [URL]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/18/scitech/main20108056.shtml

[bbennett]

Nice. Now you get to pay more, get billed seperately, use two different websites, and have even less selection with the loss of Starz. Way to go Netflix!

[BruteForce]

Pretty irritating. The email didn't help. As bbennett indicated, getting 2x invoices and using 2x websites seems pretty short-sighted. Morons.

[tanya]

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre78i23b-us-netflix/

[rockgremlin]

You know, for a forum full of Mormons there certainly isn't a whole lot of forgiveness around here. :lol8:


I kept both. I like the streaming plus I like the video game rental option. It's only 22 bucks a month geez...most of you guys piss at least that much away a month in diet coke and cinnamon bears.

[Don]

You know what's funny? I left Netflix a couple years ago 'cause DVDs would sit on the coffee table for weeks and didn't seem worth it. But I resubcribed, streaming-only about the time thread thread began (see my earlier comments). Last night I watched the 120th episode of Star Trek the Next Generation. I'm on track to finish the series by the time they get the Deep Space Nine series in October. Most of them have been watched on my phone (over wifi) while doing dishes, or making dinners, or some other household chore. I'm really enjoying the service.
We'll see how much that continues when I run out of Star Trek I guess...

[blueeyes]

If I canceled Netflix I would have a mutiny at my house. That is about all the kids watch is streamed episodes or movies from netflix. Now the video service might get canceled I am the only one really that uses it and right now the vids just sit on the table I think I have had the same one for a month and when I did watch it I fell asleep 10 min in. Kind of annoyed at having two separate services. But I get why they split it.

[accadacca]

What a couple clowns. :lol8:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Tn8n5CIPk

[dmMatrix]

I kept both. I like the streaming plus I like the video game rental option. It's only 22 bucks a month geez...most of you guys piss at least that much away a month in diet coke and cinnamon bears.

HEY!!!! You leave my cinnamon bears out of this :nono:... Especially the chocolate covered ones :lol8:

But, I have stopped purchasing soda somewhat recently. Its funny how I don't even notice the savings, the same with cancelling the DVD portion of netflix, I don't really see a difference unless I look at it by a yearly standing. Its actually a pretty small amount. But still, we are working on principal right? :haha:

[accadacca]

SNL Video: Netflix Apology :lol8:


http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/Netflix-Apology/1359563

[bigred72]

How many of them went to nutflicks.com?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bigred72]

After reading the news today about neflix not splitting their services, the SNL spoof is even funnier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BruteForce]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20117888-261/netflix-cancels-qwikster-spinoff/?tag=mncol;topStories

[accadacca]

What a joke! :lol8:

[accadacca]

Dear [Everybody],

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password

[Iceaxe]

Can you say..... NEW COKE?

48763

[bigred72]

What a clusterfunction!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bbennett]

What a clusterfunction!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn auto-correct :haha:

[Don]

Down 800,000. They predicted 600,000. But earnings up?

Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers in tough 3Q

Earning rising 65 percent overshadowed by user revolt over fee increases

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45023556/ns/business-personal_finance/

[bigred72]

Not so fast....

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=18601104&section=page-two

Netflix CEO's stock options slashed after bad year
by Micheal Liedtke, Associated Press
AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Netflix CEO Reed Hastings will pay a $1.5 million penalty for blunders that alienated the video subscription service's customers and pulverized its stock.

The punishment will be delivered with a 50 percent reduction in his stock option awards next year, according to regulatory documents filed Thursday. Instead of the $3 million stock option allowance he received this year, Hastings will get $1.5 million in 2012. His base salary will remain unchanged at $500,000.

It would have been difficult to make a case for giving Hastings a raise coming off a year in which his decisions transformed Netflix from Wall Street darling to bum. The company's stock price plunged, and subscribers fled in a rebellion against a U.S. price increase of as much as 60 percent. The aftershocks of the subscriber exodus are expected to saddle Netflix with a net loss next year, the first time that has happened in a decade.

Netflix Inc. declined to comment on the changes to Hastings' compensation.

Hastings has repeatedly taken the blame for mismanaging the announcement of the price increase in July and then making things worse two months later by trying to spin off Netflix's DVD-by-mail rental service into a separate website called Qwikster. Since scrapping that idea in October, Hastings has been trying to repair some of the damage.

That will probably take a while. Netflix's stock price has plunged 75 percent since mid-July to wipe out $12 billion in shareholder wealth. The backlash surprised and humbled Hastings, who revealed at an investor conference this month that he once thought Netflix's stock would hit $1,000. Netflix's stock gained $2.87 Thursday to close at $73.84, down from its July high of just under $305.

The stock's downfall elicited some gallows humor from Hastings on his Facebook page. "In Wyoming with 10 investors at a ranch/retreat. I think I might need a food taster," Hastings posted two days after announcing his Qwikster plan.

Hastings' missteps also have cost Netflix at least 800,000 subscribers. That's how many customers Netflix lost during the July-September period. Netflix has said the exodus extended into October and November, though it isn't providing specifics until it reports fourth-quarter earnings next month.

Some analysts have suggested Netflix should consider rescinding at least part of its price increase, but Hastings has brushed aside the notion so far. At the investor conference, he predicted his bad moves will eventually forgotten if Netflix's service for streaming video over high-speed Internet connections keeps growing throughout the world as DVDs slowly fade into obsolescence.


(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

[BlueRoads]

Maybe I've always been underpaid, but I wouldn't mind getting half a mill to f***up as bad as he did!

[accadacca]

Uh oh...

Netflix Loses Viacom and a Key Demographic: Toddlers

http://rack.2.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA1LzI4LzAwL05ldGZsaXh0b2RkLmQ5OTE1LmpwZw pwCXRodW1iCTk1MHg1MzQjCmUJanBn/a910c3ea/c52/Netflix-toddlers.jpg

Like many parents with young children, my wife and I think Netflix is a godsend. While its streaming service has never been a good place to find current, high-quality titles, that $7.99 a month gets you truckloads of kids entertainment, including hits from Nickelodeon such as Dora the Explorer to SpongeBob SquarePants.

At least it did up until this weekend. Following the loss of almost 2,000 titles from its catalog a month ago, Netflix's contract with Viacom (which owns Nickelodeon) didn't get renewed, and a few days ago the consequences of the breakup hit its library. For myself and millions of other Netflix subscribers, all of Nick's titles

[nelsonccc]

I love Netflix. I quit the DVD side of it when they split the services and just kept the streaming. Sometimes when going thru the library all the old B movies are tiring but there are always a few good TV series. I like the Discovery Channel series and I never would've watched Gold Rush or Flying Alaska or Fringe without Netflix. 4 years now since I quit cable and don't miss it at all!

[Deathcricket]

I love Netflix. I quit the DVD side of it when they split the services and just kept the streaming. Sometimes when going thru the library all the old B movies are tiring but there are always a few good TV series. I like the Discovery Channel series and I never would've watched Gold Rush or Flying Alaska or Fringe without Netflix. 4 years now since I quit cable and don't miss it at all!

x2. Xbmc 1channel and I dont miss cable either. :2thumbs:

[accadacca]

I pay Comcast $32 for local HD channels and a few basic cable channels. It is their lowest package. Suck on that Comcast!

I stream from the web constantly. Either from my iPhone, iPad or MacBook Pro through my Apple TV. :cool2:

[oldno7]

through my Apple TV. :cool2:

Dood--you got one of these? I'm so jealous, been looking at them for some time.

Is the stem really the antennae?